Intex Aqua S7 makes a mark with design and performance

Intex is steadily building a smartphone portfolio -their aim is to have phones at multiple price points. The Aqua S7 is the company's latest launch that falls in the crowded sub Rs 10,000 price bracket but aims to stand out with stylish design.

Viewed from the front, the Aqua S7 resembles an iPhone (minus the trademark home button). A number of people who saw it from a distance came and asked if it was the new iPhone. The metal frame has been designed to closely mimic an iPhone. Even the bezels around the display are strikingly similar (in terms of dimensions and screen to bezel ratio).

Whether this resemblance is good thing or bad, you be the judge. Around the back, the Aqua S7 has a removable plastic back panel -the Intex logo, fingerprint scanner and camera module at the top center.

Even though it is not a full metal body, the phone gets marks for style and sturdiness. It has a 5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. While the screen has good viewing angles, we feel the brightness could have been higher -it is difficult to view the screen under direct sunlight.

Moreover, the glass covering the front is a fingerprint magnet and requires constant cleaning. What impressed us is the fingerprint scanner. It has excellent recognition (9 out of 10 times), and it takes under a second to wake and unlock the phone. Specifications include a quad-core Mediatek processor, 3GB RAM and 16GB storage -this is similar to what a number of phones offer in this price range.

The phone runs a (almost) stock Android user interface with a few tweaks here and there such as custom icons and an emergency service. For most day-to-day use, the phone was able to keep up well: switching between apps, playing games, photos and multimedia worked well. This was all done with WiFi or 4G connectivity.

On most days, the battery easily lasted a full day with around 15 20% to spare at the end of the day. Even with heavy usage, the phone lasted a full day.

Camera quality is a mixed bag. While the primary 13MP primary camera manages to take good images in daylight, indoor results are not too good. Low light images have lots of visible noise and lack sharpness. Also, while the phone's focus speed is fast in daylight, it slips up a lot with AF lock in low light. The front camera has a wide angle lens and works g reat in daylight for selfies. However, like the primary camera, it really can't do much in low light.

While the Intex Aqua S7 makes a mark with design and performance, it faces stiff competition from various brands. The Redmi 3S Prime offers a metal body with better battery and superior camera for a lower price while the Coolpad Mega offers a larger display with metal body and similar performance for Rs 6,999.